Let’s talk about arpeggios. I love them, and they are a lot of fun to play! In this article, I will show you how you can take the regular arpeggio shapes you know, but add slides to them to make them sound more expressive. You can watch the accompanying video with demonstrations of the examples to follow in this article by clicking here.

Regular Arpeggio ShapesLet me show you an example of an Am and Dm arpeggio, played with the regular shapes many guitarists all over the world play. Here they are below –

These are perfectly good sounding arpeggios and very cool to play. These will be the basis for the examples I will now show in the rest of the article.

Using SlidesLet’s take a look at this example below of an Am arpeggio, but with some slides added –

Here are some suggestions for what fingers to use, although you are free to use what is comfortable for you –• For the 7th to 10th fret slide on the D string, use your 2nd finger• 9th fret of G string – 1st finger• 10th fret of B string – 2nd finger• 8th fret of high E string – 1st finger• For the 12th fret to 17th fret slide on high E string, use your 4th finger, then pull off to the 12th fret again landing there with your 1st finger.• For the 13th to 10th fret slide on the B string, use your 2nd finger• 9th fret of G string – 1st finger• For the 10th to 7th fret slide on the D string, use your 2nd finger to finish off the arpeggio.Make sure you check how to play each part of the arpeggio carefully and try to use the most economical picking motions to ensure it is as easy as possible to play. Look at my picking hand in the accompanying video.

Let’s take a look at this example below of an Dm arpeggio, but with some slides added. Apply all the same fingerings as with the previous example.

Ensure you watch the video demonstration here to fully appreciate the highly expressive sound of these arpeggios with this concept of adding slides.Now, do you know what you can do with this information? Use it in your playing not just with these arpeggios shapes, but for all the arpeggio shapes you know. You can apply this concept to any inversion of an arpeggio you know, and it sounds just as cool for all of them!

About the author – Michael Hanna is a professional guitar teacher living in Larne, Northern Ireland. If you are looking for the best guitar lessons in Larne, County Antrim, you can find him by clicking here.